Experiment 9: Thin Lenses

INTRODUCTION

Lenses are familiar objects that are used daily. Lenses transmit light and are used
to converge and focus light (for convex spherical lenses) and to diverge light (for concave
spherical lenses). Many of us wear lenses in the form of eyeglasses. Cameras and
projectors use lens systems to magnify and form images on screens. In this experiment,
the fundamental properties of thin lenses will be investigated.

OBJECTIVES

After performing this experiment, you should be able to

• distinguish between convex and concave lenses, and

• determine the image characteristics of the thin lenses by simulation and
analytically using the thin-lens equation and magnification factor.

EQUIPMENT & MATERIALS NEEDED

http://ophysics.com/

THEORY

Features of Lenses

The lenses shown in Figure 1 are converging (convex) lens and diverging (concave) lens. Light
bends as it enters the lens, since light comes from air and transmits through the lens.

Figure 1. Converging lens and diverging lens

(credit: https://phys.libretexts.org/Courses/University_of_California_Davis)

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The optical axis of a lens is the line that goes through the central part of the lens, and is parallel
with the normal at the center of the lens. In Figure 1, all the rays on the left-hand side of the lenses
are parallel to each other and to the optical axes of their respective lenses. These rays approximate
an object located very far from the lens.

Notice that each lens has a point where the light rays all intersect. For the converging lens the
point is where all the light rays cross, while for the diverging lens this point is where the refracted
light rays appear to be diverging from. In both cases it is referred to as the focal point because it
is the point toward or away from which light rays refract.

Focal Length

The focal length f of a lens tells us how far from the lens the focal points are. The magnitude of
the focal length is the distance from the lens to each focal point, while the sign tells us if the lens
is converging or diverging. For a converging lens we take f > 0 (positive), while for a diverging
lens we take f < 0 (negative). In some Physics textbooks, a converging lens is also known as a
positive lens, and a diverging lens is a negative lens.

Ray Tracing for Converging Lenses

Tracing light rays as they pass through the lens from air, for instance, and emerge on the opposite
side is one method to determine the location of the image of an object placed on the left side of
the lens, as shown in Figure 2. For now, we take the tip of the object as the point where light rays
set out as incident rays. All the incident rays are refracted upon entering the lens. Out of the
many rays, we choose three rays (labelled 1, 2, and 3) which we can draw the refracted ray
without doing any math. Only two rays are necessary to locate the image. It is best to trace rays
for which there are simple ray tracing rules.

➢ Ray 1 is parallel to the optical axis, refracts, and crosses the focal point of the lens.
➢ Ray 2 crosses the center of the lens unrefracted, passing through as a straight line.
➢ Ray 3 crosses the virtual focal point of the lens, refracts, and emerges parallel to the
principal axis.

Figure 2. Ray tracing for convex lens to locate the image.

(credit: https://openstax.org/details/books/college-physics-ap-courses)

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The point where the refracted rays cross or intersect is the location of the tip of the image. With
the image found on the opposite side of the location of the object, the image is described as real.
This means that the image can be projected on a screen.

Ray Tracing for Diverging Lenses

The procedure for a diverging lens is similar to Figure 2. The first principal ray 1 comes off the
object parallel to the optical axis, and is refracted so that the ray appears to be coming from the
focal point, as shown in Figure 3. A dotted ray is drawn to show where the light ray appears to
come from. Ray 2 passes through the center unrefracted.

Figure 3. Ray tracing for concave lens to locate the image.

(credit: https://openstax.org/details/books/college-physics-ap-courses)

There is no real image formed as the refracted rays 1 and 2 diverge. Thus, we trace the refracted
rays backward to locate the image. These backward rays are called apparent refracted rays. The
intersection of the apparent refracted rays 1 and 2 is the tip of the image. Unlike in Figure 2, the
location of both the image and object are on one side of the lens. This image cannot be projected
and is called a virtual image. Light rays only appear to originate at a virtual image; they do not
actually pass through that location in space. A screen placed at the location of a virtual image will
receive only diffuse light from the object, not focused rays from the lens.

Thin-Lens Equation

We used the following symbols based on Figure 2 and Figure 3:

𝑑o = object distance or distance between object and lens

𝑑i = image distance or distance between image and lens
𝑓 = focal length or distance between focus and lens

These three quantities are related by the thin-lens equation

1 1 1
+ = Eq. (1)
𝑑𝑜 𝑑𝑖 𝑓

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From the ray tracings it is apparent that the object and the image do not have to be the same size.
This leads us to define the magnification 𝑀 as the ratio of image height to object height.

ℎ𝑖
𝑀= Eq. (2)
ℎ𝑜

If M = 2, then it means that the image is magnified twice as high as the object. If M = 0.5, then the
image is diminished in size, half as much as the object’s height.

In terms of image and object distances 𝑑𝑖 and 𝑑𝑜 , respectively, the magnification is given by

𝑑𝑖
𝑀=− Eq. (3)
𝑑𝑜

If Eq. (3) is used, M can be positive or negative. If M is positive, then the image is upright. If M
is negative, then the image is inverted.

Meanwhile, a real image is formed when 𝑑𝑖 is positive, a virtual image 𝑑𝑖 if negative.

PROCEDURE

1. Open http://ophysics.com/f.html. Go to the heading Light and click on Concave and Convex
Lenses.
2. Accustom yourself with the simulation before you start with your measurements. Adjust the
various settings Focus and Object. Click and hold the tip of the Object to move it left or right
of the lens to any object distance 𝑑𝑜 , and to move it up or down to any object height ℎ𝑜 .

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3. Now set the object height ℎ𝑜 at 2 cm. This will be constant in all trials. Set the focal length to
𝑓= 4.82 cm (convex lens). Just assume each grid to be 1 cm x 1 cm. Adjust the position of the
object to 12 cm. Record the image distance 𝑑𝑖 , height of image ℎ𝑖 , and magnification 𝑀.
Describe the characteristics of the image (real or virtual, upright or inverted, enlarged or
diminished).
4. Repeat step 3 for different object distances 𝑑𝑜 (10, 8, 6, 4, and 2 cm). Complete Table 1.
5. Now click and hold the Focus to move it to the other side of the lens to change the convex
lens to a concave lens. Adjust the focus to 𝑓 = − 4.22 cm and repeat steps 3 – 4 for this focal
length. Complete Table 2.
6. To determine the focal length graphically, we will manipulate Eq. (1).

1 1 1
+ =
𝑑𝑜 𝑑𝑖 𝑓

𝑑𝑖 + 𝑑𝑜 1
=
𝑑𝑜 𝑑𝑖 𝑓

𝑑𝑜 𝑑𝑖 = 𝑓(𝑑𝑖 + 𝑑𝑜 )

7. Draw a graph of 𝑑𝑜 𝑑𝑖 against (𝑑𝑖 + 𝑑𝑜 ) for the data in Table 1. From the graph, determine
the slope of the line, and calculate the focal length f of the convex lens.

REFERENCES

Wilson, J. (1994) Physics laboratory experiments. D. C. Heath and Company, Mass., USA
Katz, D. (2016) Physics for scientists and Engineers, Vol. 1 Boston M.A. Cengage learning
Loyd, D. (2008) 3rd ed., Physics Lab manual, Thomson Learning academic center CA: Belmont
College Physics at https://openstax.org/details/books/college-physics-ap-courses
Overview of Lenses at https://phys.libretexts.org/Courses/University_of_California_Davis

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Name____________________________ Date Performed____________________
Subject___________________________ Schedule__________________________

Experiment 9 Thin Lenses

Table 1. Convex Lens

Focal length: 𝑓 = 4.82 cm

Height of object: ℎ0 = 2 cm
Object Image Image 𝑑𝑜 𝑑𝑖 𝑑𝑖 + 𝑑𝑜 Magnification Characteristics of Image
distance distance height (cm2) (cm) 𝑀 (real or virtual)
𝑑𝑜 𝑑𝑖 ℎ𝑖 (upright or inverted)
(cm) (cm) (cm) (enlarged or diminished)
12.00
10.00
8.00
6.00
4.00
2.00

Graph here:

Calculations and Questions:

1. What is the slope of the line? Calculate the focal length of the lens from the graph. Compare
with the true value f = 4.82 cm by calculating the percent error. Show your calculations here.

2. With 𝑑o > 𝑓, how does 𝑑i vary with increasing 𝑑o ?

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3. Describe the image (real or virtual, upright or inverted, enlarged or diminished)
when 𝑑o < 𝑓.

4. Using thin-lens equation, Eq. (1), what quantity is equal to the lens’ focal length when 𝑑o
approaches infinity?

Table 2. Concave Lens

Focal length: 𝑓 = − 4.22 cm

Height of object: ℎ0 = 2 cm
Object Image Image 𝑑𝑜 𝑑𝑖 𝑑𝑖 + 𝑑𝑜 Magnification Characteristics of Image
distance distance height (cm2) (cm) 𝑀 (real or virtual)
𝑑𝑜 𝑑𝑖 ℎ𝑖 (upright or inverted)
(cm) (cm) (cm) (enlarged or diminished)
12.00
10.00
8.00
6.00
4.00
2.00

5. Can a concave lens produce a real image of an object? Why or why not?

6. (a) If an object is 12 cm away from a thin lens, where will the image be located if the focal
length of the lens is
(i) 5.5 cm
(ii) − 6.2 cm?

(b) Calculate the magnification of each lens.

(c) Describe the image of each lens (real or virtual, upright or inverted, enlarged or
diminished).

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